Denise Coates, founder and joint CEO of leading online bookmaker bet365, has established a £100m charitable foundation.
The newly founded bet365 foundation has already made significant donations to Oxfam, Cafod, the Douglas Macmillan Hospice for cancer sufferers in Stoke – where bet365 is based - and also contributions to relief programmes for victims of typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.
Coates, who picked up a CBE in 2011, has a personal fortune estimated at £1bn. Bet365, which recorded an operating profit of £212m for the year to March 30, has seen business boom in recent years as it pioneered the in-play sports betting markets.
Last year, turnover was up 38 per cent to £1.37bn for the financial year, £1.28bn of which was generated by betting and gaming.
The company’s workforce also increased dramatically in the year to more than 2,500, a rise of nearly a fifth.
